Man dumped into sea in failed smuggling attempt

San Diego  Harbor Police rescued a man from the water Monday morning after he was forced off a personal watercraft in a failed smuggling attempt into the United States.

Officers spotted the watercraft about 7:50 a.m. about 1½ miles south of Point Loma and attempted to stop it, police Sgt. Dave Fauser said.

But the driver dumped off the passenger and headed south toward Mexico, Fauser said.

The 34-year-old man was scooped up and brought to shore, where he was treated by medics for serious hypothermia, Fauser said. He told officers that he and the other man had left from Rosarito Beach about 5 a.m. The man had on a life jacket but was wearing only shorts, a T-shirt and no shoes, the sergeant said.

Fauser said that if officers had not gotten him out of the water so quickly he likely would have drowned.

The man, who was from Mexico, was turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol.